On Tuesday, July 23 at 10:00 a.m., the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), and the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, chaired by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), will hold a joint hearing entitled, “The Employer Mandate: Examining the Delay and its Effect on Workplaces.” The hearing will take place in room 2175 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees to offer government-approved health insurance or pay a penalty of $2,000 per employee. The law defines a “full-time” employee as one who works 30 hours or more per week. The Congressional Budget Office estimates employers will pay $140 billion in penalties over the next 10 years. As a result of the law’s employer mandate, some businesses are cutting worker hours or shifting full-time employees to part-time status.

On July 2, the administration announced through a blog post on the Department of Treasury website it would delay for one year enforcement of the employer mandate. The decision creates new questions and concerns for business owners and workers as implementation of the law’s key provisions remain unclear. Reps. Roe and Walberg invited Howard Shelanski, administrator for the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), to testify about the decision-making process surrounding the delay. However, OMB declined the invitation, stating OIRA was not involved in the decision to delay enforcement of the employer mandate.

Tuesday’s hearing will provide an opportunity for members to hear witnesses discuss the consequences of the employer mandate and how the decision to delay its implementation will affect workers and job creators. To learn more about this hearing, visit www.edworkforce.house.gov/hearings.

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WITNESS LIST

Grace-Marie Turner
President
Galen Institute
Washington, D.C.

Jamie Richardson
Vice President of Government and Shareholder Relations
White Castle System Inc.
Columbus, OH